22 October 2007

North Carolina is in a bad drought, one that may turn out to be the worst in its history. According to some estimates there is only 75 days worth of water left in the city of Durham. With that in mind, what is Duke University doing watering the synthetic turf used by its field hockey team? It turns out they’re just following the rules.

The International Hockey Federation requires the college teams to saturate the synthetic turfs before each practice and all games.

It's not just the way the ball bounces, athletics officials say, although field hockey balls do bounce better on saturated fields. When the turf is wet, coaches add, field hockey players have better grip on the surface and report fewer injuries.

Durham has banned all outdoor watering, with Duke receiving a business exemption under the caveat that its overall consumption drop by 30 percent. Nonetheless, those involved seem to understand the idea that others could get worked up over this, so they’ve resorted to tossing out their environmentalist credentials.

"I drive a hybrid, and I recycle," Duke Field Hockey coach Beth Bozman said. "I'm as green as anybody. I understand."